Jill & Martin at The Newton Hotel, Nairn

On the 3rd of July I was at the Newton Hotel,  Nairn to shoot the wedding of Jill Urquhart and Martin Davidson. I was looking forward to this one for a while as we had done a lovely pre wedding shoot on Nairn beach in late January and I knew we were going to have a great time. What I hadn’t expected was for it to be such an emotion filled day.  Martin is the only man I have met who is more emotional than me! Tears when Jill walked up the aisle, tears when Jill’s brother Calum read out his poem (not a dry eye in the chapel myself included), tears at the speeches and tears at the end when I had to leave. Ok I made that part up. It really was a beautiful day and made me feel so lucky yet again to be part of something that is so special to the people involved. Anyway it was a great day, which began at Jill’s house in the morning before heading to the Newton. The weather was beautiful which meant we got back to Nairn beach for some shots as well as shooting some great spots in the hotel grounds. A great day yet again, with great people.

Venue:              The Newton Hotel, Nairn.  It was a great venue and we had our ceremony in the chapel there.  The staff at the Newton were amazing, especially Claire who thought of every little detail.  She made sure that everything ran so smoothly during the day; and that everything and everyone was taken care of.

Dress:               Ian Stuart.  I found a fabulous dress maker Tina, who made a beautiful job of altering my dress at very short notice!

Shoes:             Dune

Cake:               We got our cake from Harry Gow.  Fran was lovely, and so helpful.  She just asked us to email her a picture of the cake we wanted and she made sure it was delivered to the venue on the day.  It was just what we wanted and it tasted fab too.

Rings:               John MacIntyre & Son, Glasgow

Hair:                 My friend Gillian.

Cars:                My Uncle took me and my Dad in his car and my wee brother took my bridesmaids and my Mum in my Dads car.

Videographer:               Colin Sinclair, Video Viewpoint.  We are so glad that we decided to get a DVD.  The day passes by so quickly and the whole family are dying to see it all again on the DVD – even the ones who were dreading being filmed!!!

Chair Covers:               Dress the Day, Nairn

Flowers:                       Stephen Seedhouse

Pianist:                          Ken Burnett played prior to and during the ceremony.  He also kept our guests entertained whilst we were having our photographs taken.  He was lovely and he even learned two pieces of music that we wanted to be played whilst I was walking down the aisle and then while we were signing the register.

Band:                           Ghost, they were fantastic, the dance floor was full all night!

What was your favourite moment of the day?

I loved the whole day from start to finish.  The ceremony in particular was very special for us, very personal just the way we wanted it to be.  Our minister Rev Maureen Wilson was fantastic and my brother Calum wrote a beautiful poem for us which he read out during the ceremony.  It was one of the highlights of the day for us and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the Chapel!!

What advice would you give to other brides planning their wedding?

Be organised because you never know what will crop up the last few days before the wedding!  Try not to stress or get too nervous, enjoy the preparations and enjoy every minute of your wedding day.  Everyone tells you that it will go by in a flash and it really does!

Most importantly of all, invest in a fabulous photographer who will take better photos than you will ever imagine (John!), and a videographer with a good reputation (Colin!).  After all, once the big day is over you will have your photographs and your DVD forever so they are worth every penny!